In Everything Give Thanks
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Introduction
Introduction
Being Pilgrims, they knew …
Suffering
Hope
Thanksgiving
I. Suffering
I. Suffering
A. Brief History of England
England was a Roman Catholic nation until 1534 when King Henry VIII declared himself the head of a new national church: the Church of England.
Be in the Roman Catholic Church, or the Church of England, there were many who felt the practices of the church were incorrect:
The Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England through reform and return it to the simple worship of early Christians.
The Separatists felt the Church of England was beyond reform, so they decided to separate from it altogether, seeking to establish new congregations. They wanted to form a church according to the model they saw outlined in Scripture.
[T]hey shook off this yoke of antichristian bondage, and as the Lord’s free people joined themselves (by a covenant of the Lord) into a church estate, in the fellowship of the gospel, to walk in all His ways made known, or to be made known unto them, according to their best endeavors, whatsoever it cost them.
The Separatists later become the Pilgrims who journeyed to America, but they would first struggle to leave England.
B. Religious Persecution
In the 1600s, it was illegal to be part of any church other than the Church of England. So, the Separatists faced persecution in the form of harassment, fines, and being sent to jail. After an attempted escape in 1607 and the resulting consequences, William Bradford wrote:
I may not omit the fruit that came hereby, for by these so public troubles, in so many eminent places, their cause became famous, and occasioned many to look into the same; and their godly carriage and Christian behavior was such, as left deep impressions in the minds of many. And though some few shrunk at these first conflicts, and sharp beginnings (as it was no marvel), yet many more came on with fresh courage, and greatly animated others.
In 1608, the Pilgrims attempted to flee again. This time, the men watched from the boat as their wives and children were taken by the authorities. The captain, fearing for his life, set sail for Holland on a 14 day journey in a bitter storm. Their wives and children joined them later in the late spring.
What was the attitude of the pilgrims in the midst of such trouble?
But these things did not dismay them (though they did sometimes trouble them) for their desires were set on the ways of God, and to enjoy His ordinances, but they rested on His providence, and they knew whom they had believed.
The pilgrims recognized that suffering was to be expected in the Christian walk.
20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. 21 They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
C. 12 Years of Religious Tolerance
The Pilgrims were no longer persecuted for their beliefs, but they were not free. They were simply tolerated and regulated by the government. For instance, England still worked with Holland to suppress the printing of religious information done by the Pilgrims (it was this printing press which would later save the pilgrims on the ocean). This, combined with the secular influence of Holland’s culture, led them to desire a permanent place of freedom. When they heard about the new world, they desired to set sail to establish a new home.
D. Their suffering was not over. In fact, in many ways, it had only just begun. However, they pressed on because they not only knew suffering, but they knew hope.
II. Hope
II. Hope
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
A. The Mayflower’s Voyage
66 days; 3,000 miles of ocean; 102 passengers
After a storm cracked the main beam of the ship, the sailors were able to use a large metal jackscrew to hold the beam in place for the remainder of the voyage.
John Howland was swept off the deck of the Mayflower
Miraculously caught a trailing rope and was pulled aboard
He would later marry and have 10 children
Some 2 million Americans are direct descendants of John Howland:
Alec Baldwin (actor), Stephen Baldwin (actor), Philips Brooks (wrote O Little Town of Bethlehem), Ralph Waldo Emerson (poet), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (poet), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President George H. W. Bush, and President George Bush
2 children were born during the voyage, though one later died.
Arrived November 11, 1620 in Cape Cod in Massachusetts
As is stated in the Mayflower Compact, they had intended to settle in Virginia; however, a storm had blown the ship off course and they had landed much farther north.
B. The Mayflower Compact
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland king, defender of our faith, etc.
having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne parts of Virginia doe by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together in a civil body politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid;
and by virtue hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as small be thought most meete and covenient for the generall good of the Colonie unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
C. The First Winter
Settlers lived aboard the Mayflower and were ferried back and forth to construct the settlement.
They began to move ashore in March.
During this time, more than half died (78% of the women died)
D. The Pilgrims pressed on through all their trials because of a hope set before them, a hope of a future serving and worshipping God in freedom.
15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
The very determination of the pilgrims to not only reach the new world, but to start a new life was testimony of the hope that was within each of them.
So, they knew suffering, they knew hope, and finally they knew thanksgiving.
III. Thanksgiving
III. Thanksgiving
A. The Doctrine of Thankfulness — in everything give thanks
We do not thank God for everything that happens — we thank God in the midst of everything that happens
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
God works all things for good, but not everything that happens is good.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We lift our worries and concerns up to God, but thank Him for what He has done or brought us through.
11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
We seek to cultivate an attitude of contentment with whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.
B. Consider all the difficulties the Pilgrims faced leading up to their first Thanksgiving:
The religious persecution, getting an agreement to settle in the new world, the loss of the Speedwell, the harrowing 2 month journey across the Atlantic, and over half their company dying during the first winter.
Yet, following a bountiful harvest made possible by the Wampanoag Indians and the hand of God, the Pilgrims offered thanks.
What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace? May not, and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say, ‘Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness, but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice, and looked on their adversity, etc. Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good; and His mercies endure forever.
C. The First Thanksgiving
While the Pilgrim’s thanksgiving was not the first time of thanksgiving offered on the shores of the new world, it is the one which our tradition is founded after:
Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors …
And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.
This act of thanksgiving is rooted firmly in biblical tradition:
33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord.
The Feast of Booths is also known as the Feast of Ingathering, for it took place after all the crops were gathered.
The Israelites made temporary shelters (booths) during the week long celebration to remind themselves of the forty years of living in the wilderness.
It was not a feast that celebrated the absence of difficulty, but instead in joy with gratitude for how God sustained them through difficulty.
The Pilgrims recognized that any of the goodness they experienced in their lives came from God:
They recognized that every good and perfect gift is from the Father above:
17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
They determined to praise God at all times
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice. 3 O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. 4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night, 3 With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp, With resounding music upon the lyre. 4 For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
They gave thanks in everything
16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
IV. Conclusion — Determining to be Thankful
IV. Conclusion — Determining to be Thankful